Diy Mfa Radio

Hey there word nerds! You might be doing a double-take right now because this episode is airing on a Thursday and not on Wednesday like our usual schedule. In fact, this is a bonus episode to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of DIY MFA. That’s right… exactly five years ago today, we announced this podcast to the world. Since then, we have released a new episode every single Wednesday like clockwork. It’s been a wild and crazy ride and I am so happy and grateful that you’re celebrating this podcast-iversary with me! In the last five years, we’ve hit some major milestones. We are at 265 episodes (and counting!) and we hit the top of the iTunes New & Notable Arts section in our second week. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing over 200 authors, editors, agents and industry professionals. These interviews have run the gamut: from debuts to bestsellers and award-winners representing pretty much every major genre award, as well as Pulitzer Prize winner. Last year I even conducted my first official celebrity in

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to our guest, the award-winning journalist, essayist, and poet Marybeth Niederkorn. Marybeth’s work has appeared in The Gasconade Review, Trailer Park Quarterly, Red Fez, and others. A Southeast Missouri native, her work is expressive of her background and roots while still managing to be kind of hilarious. Educated at Southeast Missouri State University, she holds degrees in philosophy and in professional writing, and makes her living as a copywriter for Recruiters Websites. She and her husband Dave live in rural Missouri. Her first full-length poetry collection, Times Knew Roamin’, which we’ll be discussing today. In this episode Marybeth and I discuss: How traveling can affect the writing process Using poetry to capture a mental space How poetry can reflect meaning in a way unique from prose The beauty of structure to push your creativity  Grammar--how important is it?  Using writing to build community Plus, their #1 tip for writers. For

  Hey there word nerds! Today is one of my absolute favorite episodes of the year because it’s our annual ThrillerFest Debut Authors panel and I am so delighted to have August Norman, D.A. Bartley, Paula Munier, and John McMahon on the show. Every year, I have the pleasure of attending ThrillerFest, which is a fabulous conference put on by the International Thriller Writers (ITW). I’ve attended every year since 2012 (except 2014 because Lady Bug had just been born) and this is one of my favorite conferences of the season. It’s a very collegial event, with seasoned writers and debuts supporting each other. This particular debut authors panel has been a tradition at DIY MFA Radio for a few years and I always have a blast chatting with the debut authors about the craft and business of writing. Each year, we choose a theme and this year it’s “when big suspense happens in small town settings.” As you’ll hear in this interview, each of these authors has a unique take on this topic. In this episode August, D.A., Pau

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Fonda Lee on the show. Fonda is a recovering corporate strategist, black belt martial artist, and an action movie aficionado as well as the author of several highly acclaimed books of fantasy and science fiction, such as the young adult sci-fi novels Zeroboxer, Exo, and Cross Fire.  Her work has been nominated for several awards, including the Nebula and Locus Awards, and been featured on Best of Year lists such as NPR and Syfy Wire. She also won the Aurora Award, Canada’s national science fiction and fantasy award, twice in the same year for Best Novel and Best Young Adult Novel.  Fonda’s latest writing project is the fantasy/crime drama series the Green Bone Saga. The first book in this series, Jade City (which I am loving!), won the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the second book in the series, Jade War, has just been released. So listen in as Fonda and I chat about this amazing series, and the numerous strategies and decisions t

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Aileen Erin on the show. Aileen is half-Irish, half-Mexican, and 100% nerd. From Star Wars (prequels don’t count) to Star Trek, she has a severe fascination with the speculative and supernatural.  This fascination led her into writing, but after Twilight, Aileen was told that nobody wanted to read another vampire or werewolf story. She didn't agree and wrote one anyway. She proved her critics wrong as her independently published Alpha Girl series, has sold over 1.5 million copies. She earned a BS in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas at Austin, and went on to earn her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She has since founded an independent boutique publishing house Ink Monster. Aileen’s latest novel, Lunar Court, is the eighth installment of her USA Today bestselling series Alpha Girl, and is available now. So listen in as Aileen and I chat about this awesome fantasy series and how to successfully write and publish

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Mark Mayer to the show. Mark is an author and has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was a Michener-Copernicus Fellow, and holds a PhD from the University of Denver. He was also the Robert P. Dana Emerging Writer-in-Residence at Cornell College’s Center for the Literary Arts from 2012-2014. His stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, Kenyon Review, Guernica, Colorado Review, and Mid-American Review. Mark’s debut is a short story collection titled Aerialists, in which classic circus figures become ordinary misfits seeking grandeur in a lonely world. In this collection, Mark examines familiar tropes—like the strongman, the elephant keeper, the clowns—and reinterprets these myths by placing them in everyday contemporary life. So listen in as Mark and I chat about this amazing book and how to gain a deeper understanding of a story by falling into its world over and over again.  In this episode Mark and I discuss: The intimacy of

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Dan Stout on the show. Dan is an author who writes about fever dreams and half-glimpsed shapes in the shadows. His prize-winning fiction draws on travels throughout Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim as well as an employment history spanning everything from subpoena server to assistant well driller.  Dan's stories have appeared in publications such as The Saturday Evening Post, Nature, and Intergalactic Medicine Show and his debut novel, Titanshade, a noir fantasy thriller, is available now. So listen in as Dan and I chat about this amazing book and how to combine the plot of a police procedural with the worldbuilding of fantasy.  In this episode Dan and I discuss: Character driven stories vs. issue driven stories. How to set a speculative fiction world in a “retro” time period. Following predictable story tropes in unpredictable ways. How to discover your author’s Achilles' heel. Presenting the world of your story to readers in an authentic way.

Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have  Dylan Meconis on the show. Dylan is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator. While she has pursued visual art since she could hold a crayon steady, her formal education has been concentrated in the liberal arts. She studied Western history, literature, philosophy, and French in the College of Letters at Wesleyan University, where she soaked up in-demand, market-ready skills like reading Chaucer in the original Middle English. (She has no regrets.) Her comparatively practical career as a professional comics artist actually began in college with the online publication of her first book, Bite Me!. She also spent several years daylighting as a visual communications consultant and designer, before she transitioned to work as a full-time comic book creator and freelance designer. In 2012 her short story “Outfoxed” was nominated for an Eisner Award in the category of Best Digital Comic, and in 2014 Family Man was nominated for a Reuben Award in the category of Best D

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Kelsey Ramsden on the show. I have long admired Kelsey’s work as she moves the earth, literally and figuratively. She has been named Canada’s top female entrepreneur by PROFIT, not once but twice. And Forbes calls her a “master builder of ideas, businesses and sky’s the limit futures.” She has received numerous awards for her businesses in civil construction and real estate where she builds highways, airports and communities. Her latest project is the internationally bestselling book Success Hangover: Ignite your next act. Screw your status quo. Feel alive again. and it is available now. So listen in as Kelsey and I chat about this amazing book and how to commit to your dreams even when the world pushes back. In this episode Kelsey and I discuss: The many ways a success hangover can manifest in your life. How to know when you’re stuck in the “mediocre zone”. The difference between love and lust for your career. Turning a sense of discomfort into a se

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Lenore Appelhans on the show! Lenore is the author of several books for children and teens. Her work has received honors such as appearing on the Bank Street Best Books list, winning a SCBWI Crystal Kite award, and getting featured on boxes of Cheerios. Her newest book the YA novel, The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project, (which I devoured in practically one sitting!) simultaneously pokes fun at YA literature while also celebrating everything that is awesome about the category. So listen in as Lenore and I chat about this amazing book and how tropes are used in literature. In this episode Lenore and I discuss: The manic pixie dream girl trope. Metafiction, what it is and how to craft it right. Tropes vs. stereotypes, and how to recognize each in your own writing. The mechanics of writing a group scene without confusing your reader. How to get your mind and your writing to open up to diversity. Plus, Lenore’s #1 tip for writers. For more info

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Lee Tobin McClain on the show! Lee is the Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of eight contemporary romances for Harlequin Love Inspired as well as twenty independently-published novels and novellas. She also recently contracted with Harlequin HQN to write three mainstream romance novels, the Safe Haven series, of which the first and second of these books, Low Country Hero and Low Country Dreams, are out now.   When Lee is not writing, she’s probably cheering on her daughter at a gymnastics meet, teaching writers in Seton Hill University’s MFA program, and probably not cleaning her house. So listen in as Lee and I chat about her amazing Safe Haven romance series and how to use your creative writing side to make marketing fun and successful. In this episode Lee and I discuss: Balancing the predictability of romance with keeping your readers in suspense. Popular fiction vs. literary fiction in MFA programs. Brainstorming techniques to help keep your

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of having Rob Eagar on the show! Rob is a marketing consultant and author who has coached over 600 authors and helped both fiction and nonfiction books hit the New York Times bestseller lists. He is the author of The Author’s Guide book series which includes The Author’s Guide to Email Marketing, The Author’s Guide to Write Text that Sells Books and The Author’s Guide to Marketing Books on Amazon, which will be the focus of our discussion today. Aside from talking about marketing books on Amazon, Rob will share some juicy info for how you can get access to three free eBooks to help jumpstart your book sales. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the words “free books” I’m all “yes please!” And stay tuned because toward the end of this interview we’re going to share something extra-special that Rob has cooking just for DIY MFA word nerds. So listen in because this interview is going to be AWESOME! In this episode Rob and I discuss: How mastering Amazon can inc

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Jodi Thomas on the show! Jodi is both a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 50 novels and countless short story collections. With five RITA’s to her credit, along with National Readers’ Choice Awards and Booksellers’ Best Awards, Jodi has proven her skill as a master storyteller, and in July 2006, was the 11th writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her latest novel The Little Tea Shop on Main, while still focusing on love, diverts slightly from the romance genre into women’s fiction. So listen in as Jodi and I chat about this amazing book and how to get so deep into your characters that both you and your readers feel that they are real people. In this episode Jodi and I discuss: Giving each viewpoint character a distinct voice. How to craft three equally weighted protagonists in one story. Creating characters that extend beyond the page for your readers. How to use supporting characters for more th

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Sam Sykes on the show! Sam is the author of multiple books of fantasy, including the Bring Down Heaven trilogy, the Affinity for Steel trilogy and comics such as Brave Chef Brianna. He currently lives in the United States with his two hounds and, at any given time, is probably yelling at something inanimate. Sam looks forward to being one of the sole providers of fantasy entertainment. Assuming no other authors are actually discovered in the next forty years. His latest book, Seven Blades in Black, is the start of his new fantasy series The Grave of Empires and is now available. No one can verify where he was on the night of October 17th, 2003. So on that ominous note, listen in as Sam and I chat about his awesome new book and the secrets to getting your audience emotionally invested in your story. In this episode Sam and I discuss: How to build a world that fits and impacts your characters. Leaving certain things in your world unexplained, or “The K

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Patrice Gopo on the show! The daughter of Jamaican immigrants who was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Patrice is a personal essayist and often writes about topics of race, immigration, and belonging. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications including Catapult and The New York Times. She also has had radio commentaries appear on her local public radio station, and is the recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Literature Fellowship. Her essay collection All the Colors We Will See was a Fall 2018 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and is available now. So listen in as Patrice and I chat about this amazing book, the personal essay form, and finding your own personal reason for why you write. In this episode Patrice and I discuss: What elevates a personal anecdote to a personal essay. Techniques to find your go-to essay form. How to overcome the fear of putting your personal stories out in the world. Balancing

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Patricia Davids on the show! Born and raised in Kansas, Pat was an NICU nurse for forty years, before switching careers to become an inspirational writer. She is now a USA Today best-selling author of Amish romance, enjoys playing with her dogs (who think fetch should be a twenty-four hour a day game) and happily dreaming up new stories. Her latest book, The Wish, is the first in her new romance series The Amish of Cedar Grove, and is now available. So listen in as Pat and I chat about this amazing book and how to craft a realistic and romantically charged Amish romance. In this episode Pat and I discuss: Crafting the feeling of anticipated grief within your characters. How to weave Amish culture into your romance naturally. Why you should drop your reader directly into the story and how to do it right. Adding romantic tension when your characters can’t be physical with each other. Tips and techniques to put emotion on the page internally instea

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the absolute pleasure of hosting Jon Land on the show! You may remember Jon from a previous episode where he took part in a round table interview  live from last year’s ThrillerFest along with two other bestselling thriller authors: Lisa Gardner and Karin Slaughter. Today though he’s here solo to let me pick his brain and give you his own nuggets of writing wisdom. Jon is the USA Today bestselling author of over 44 books, including the critically acclaimed and award-winning Caitlin Strong series, whose ninth installment, Strong to the Bone, won the 2017 American Book Fest Award for Mystery/Suspense. Also in the mystery genre, Jon took over writing the Murder She Wrote series in 2018 with A Date with Murder as his first entry. His latest novel, the most recent installment of his Caitlin Strong series, Strong as Steel, is available now, and his next entry in the beloved Murder She Wrote series, Murder in Red, will be released in May of 2019. So listen in as Jon and I chat abou

Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have Tiffany Reisz on the show! Tiffany is the USA Today bestselling author of the Romance Writers of America’s RITA®-winning Original Sinners series from Harlequin's Mira Books. She has also received a Lambda Award in Gay Fiction for her novel The King and two Romantic Times Editor's Choice Awards for Best Erotic Romance and Best Series Romance. Her erotic fantasy The Red—self-published under the banner 8th Circle Press—was named an NPR Best Book of the Year, a Goodreads Best Romance of the Month, and received a coveted starred review from Library Journal. Her latest book, which is set in the world of The Red, is the erotic fantasy The Rose. Tiffany lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband, Andrew Shaffer (who I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with previously on the show), the New York Times Bestselling author of Hope Never Dies. She has two cats. The cats are not writers. So listen in as Tiffany and I chat about her amazing new novel, The Rose, and why embr

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Janet Pocorobba on the show! Janet is a former features writer and editor at Metropolis magazine in Tokyo, whose memoirs, essays and reviews have appeared in many notable publications such as The Rumpus, The Writer, and Kyoto Journal. She is the author of the memoir, The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me, which is now available. In the memoir Janet shows the relationship between her and her sensei in the initial years of her apprenticeship learning to play the shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese instrument. So listen in as Janet and I chat about this awesome book and how to defy writing structures both in the classroom and on the page.   In this episode Janet and I discuss: Presenting the self in relation to others in a memoir. How training in music gives you structure and form for your writing. The role absence plays in a narrative. Using the practice method to grow your craft. The relationship between the word mind and the content mind

Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Rowenna Miller on the show! Rowenna is a midwestern born and raised fantasy author and has a Master's in English Film and Literature because she can't shut up about stories. She is also a historical reenactor and seamstress, specializing in the late eighteenth century, and writes fantasy shamelessly inspired by her love of history, especially the history of ordinary people. Her debut novel, Torn, released in March 2018, is the first in her The Unraveled Kingdom series, and the second book, Fray, will be available in June 2019. So listen in as Rowenna and I chat about this amazing series and constructing an intricate history inspired fantasy world. In this episode Rowenna and I discuss: Character centric world building. Different ways to play with magic in fantasy. How to layer aspects of your world naturally into the story. Pitfalls to avoid when crafting your magical system. Intertwining politics, history, and magic when building your fantasy world.